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diff --git a/15168.txt b/15168.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8c3a18 --- /dev/null +++ b/15168.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2998 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bowser The Hound, by Thornton W. Burgess + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bowser The Hound + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: February 25, 2005 [EBook #15168] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOWSER THE HOUND *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Cori Samuel and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: "AS I LIVE," HE MUTTERED, "THAT IS BOWSER THE HOUND!" +_Page 29._] + + + + +BOWSER THE HOUND + +BY + +THORNTON W. BURGESS + + +_With Illustrations by_ + +_HARRISON CADY_ + + +This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full compliance +with government regulations for the conservation of paper and other +essential materials, is COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +Publishers +New York + +_Printed by arrangement with Little, Brown, and Company_ + + +_Copyright, 1920,_ +BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. +_All rights reserved_ + + + + +=Dedication= + +TO THE CHILD'S LOVING PLAYMATE, +LOYAL PROTECTOR +AND STAUNCH ALLY +--THE DOG, +THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + +I OLD MAN COYOTE LEADS BOWSER AWAY 1 + +II OLD MAN COYOTE PLAYS A TRICK 6 + +III WHAT HAPPENED TO BOWSER 10 + +IV POOR BOWSER 15 + +V BOWSER SPENDS A BAD NIGHT 20 + +VI THE SURPRISE OF BLACKY THE CROW 25 + +VII BLACKY THE CROW TAKES PITY ON BOWSER 30 + +VIII HOW BLACKY THE CROW HELPED BOWSER 34 + +IX OLD MAN COYOTE GIVES OUT DARK HINTS 39 + +X HOW REDDY FOX INVESTIGATED 44 + +XI A LITTLE UNPLEASANTNESS 49 + +XII THE CLEVERNESS OF OLD MAN COYOTE 54 + +XIII THE MISCHIEVOUS LITTLE NIGHT BREEZE 59 + +XIV THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE 64 + +XV REDDY'S FORLORN CHANCE 69 + +XVI WHY REDDY WENT WITHOUT A CHICKEN DINNER 74 + +XVII FARMER BROWN'S BOY DROPS A PAN OF CORN 79 + +XVIII MUTUAL RELIEF 84 + +XIX WHERE WAS BOWSER THE HOUND? 89 + +XX WHERE BOWSER WAS 93 + +XXI BOWSER BECOMES A PRISONER 98 + +XXII FARMER BROWN'S BOY LOOKS IN VAIN 103 + +XXIII BOWSER'S GREAT VOICE 107 + +XXIV BLACKY TRIES TO GET HELP 112 + +XXV BLACKY CALLS ON REDDY FOX 117 + +XXVI RED WITS AND BLACK WITS 122 + +XXVII THE ARTFULNESS OF BLACKY 127 + +XXVIII REDDY FOX DREAMS OF CHICKENS 131 + +XXIX REDDY TRIES TO AROUSE BLACKY'S PITY 136 + +XXX BLACKY THE CROW IS ALL PITY 141 + +XXXI BLACKY IS MUCH PLEASED WITH HIMSELF 146 + +XXXII BLACKY WAITS FOR REDDY 151 + +XXXIII REDDY WATCHES THE FAT HENS 156 + +XXXIV PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE 161 + +XXXV THINGS HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE 166 + +XXXVI REDDY HIDES THE FAT HEN 171 + +XXXVII FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS A GLAD SURPRISE 176 + +XXXVIII REDDY GOES BACK FOR HIS FAT HEN 181 + +XXXIX A VANISHED DINNER 186 + +XL WHERE WAS REDDY'S DINNER? 191 + +XLI WHAT BLACKY THE CROW SAW 196 + +XLII ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL 201 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"As I live," he muttered, "that is Bowser the Hound!" _Frontispiece_ + +Over at the gate of Farmer Brown's henyard he could +see a dark form 53 + +Somewhere not very far ahead of him was a house 96 + +On broad wings it sailed over to that hollow stump 199 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +OLD MAN COYOTE LEADS BOWSER AWAY + + Though great or small the matter prove + Be faithful in whate'er you do. + 'Tis thus and only thus you may + To others and yourself be true. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Old Man Coyote is full of tricks. People with such clever wits as his +usually are full of tricks. On the other hand Bowser the Hound isn't +tricky at all. He just goes straight ahead with the thing he has to do +and does it in the most earnest way. Not being tricky himself, he +sometimes forgets to watch out for tricks in others. + +One day he found the fresh trail of Old Man Coyote and made up his mind +that he would run down Old Man Coyote if he had to run his legs off to +do it. He always makes up his mind like that whenever he starts out to +hunt. You know there is nothing in the world Bowser enjoys quite so much +as to hunt some one who will give him a long, hard run. Any time he will +go without eating for the pleasure of chasing Reddy or Granny Fox, or +Old Man Coyote. + +Now Old Man Coyote was annoyed. He was and he wasn't afraid of Bowser +the Hound. That is to say he was afraid to fight Bowser, but he wasn't +afraid to be hunted by Bowser, because he was so sure that he was smart +enough to get away from Bowser. If Bowser had appeared at almost any +other time Old Man Coyote wouldn't have been so annoyed. But to have +Bowser appear just then made him angry clear through. You see he had +just started out to get his dinner. + +"What business has that good-for-nothing dog over here anyway, I'd like +to know," he muttered, as he ran swiftly through the Green Forest. "What +right has he to meddle in other folks' business? I'll just teach that +fellow a lesson; that's what I'll do! I'll teach him that he can't +interfere with me not be sorry for it." + +So Old Man Coyote ran and ran and ran, and never once did he try to +break his trail. In fact, he took pains to leave a trail that Bowser +could follow easily. After him Bowser ran and ran and ran, and all the +time his great voice rang out joyously. This was the kind of a hunt he +loved. Out of the Green Forest into the Old Pasture, Old Man Coyote led +Bowser the Hound. Across the Old Pasture and out on the other side they +raced. Farther and farther away from home Old Man Coyote led Bowser the +Hound. Instead of circling back as usual, he kept on. Bowser kept on +after him. By and by he was in strange country, country he had never +visited before. He didn't notice this. He didn't notice anything but the +splendid trail Old Man Coyote was making. He didn't even realize that he +was getting tired. Always in his nose was the tantalizing scent of Old +Man Coyote. Bowser was sure that this time he would catch this fellow +who had fooled him so often before. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +OLD MAN COYOTE PLAYS A TRICK + + Of people who play tricks beware, + Lest they may get you in a snare. + You cannot trust them, so watch out + Whenever one may be about. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +There is such a thing as being too much interested in the thing you are +doing. That is the way accidents very often happen. A person will get so +interested in something that he will be blind and deaf to everything +else, and so will walk straight into danger or trouble of some kind. + +Now just take the case of Bowser the Hound. Bowser was so interested in +the chase of Old Man Coyote that he paid no attention whatever to +anything but the warm scent of Old Man Coyote which the latter was +taking pains to leave. Bowser ran with his nose in Old Man Coyote's +tracks and never looked either to left or right. He would lift his head +only to look straight ahead in the hope of seeing Old Man Coyote. Then +down would go his nose again to follow that scent. + +So Bowser didn't notice that Old Man Coyote was leading him far, far +away from home into country with which he was quite unacquainted. Bowser +has a great, deep, wonderful voice which can be heard a very long +distance when he bays on the tracks of some one he is hunting. It can +be heard a very long distance indeed. But far as it can be heard, Bowser +was far, far beyond hearing distance from Farmer Brown's house before +Old Man Coyote began to even think of playing one of his clever tricks +in order to make Bowser lose his scent. You see, Old Man Coyote intended +to lead Bowser into strange country and there lose him, hoping that he +would not be able to find the way home. + +Old Man Coyote is himself a tireless runner. He is not so heavy as is +Bowser, so does not tire as easily. Then, too, he had not wasted his +breath as had Bowser with his steady baying. Old Man Coyote could tell +by the sound of Bowser's voice when the latter was beginning to grow +tired, and he could tell by the fact that he often had a moment or two +to sit down and rest before Bowser got dangerously near. + +So at last Old Man Coyote decided that the time had come to play a +trick. By and by he came to a river. At that point there was a high, +overhanging bank. On the very edge of this bank Old Man Coyote made a +long leap to one side. Then he made another long leap to the big trunk +of a fallen tree. He ran along this and from the end of it made still +another long leap, as long a leap as he could. Then he hid in a little +thicket to see what would happen. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WHAT HAPPENED TO BOWSER + + When a Coyote seems most honest, watch him closest. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Bowser was very, very tired. He wouldn't admit it even to himself, for +when he is hunting he will keep on until he drops if his wonderful nose +can still catch the scent of the one he is following. Bowser is +wonderfully persistent. So, though he was very, very tired, he kept his +nose to the ground and tried to run even faster, for the scent of Old +Man Coyote was so strong that Bowser felt sure he would soon catch him. + + +Bowser didn't look to see where he was going. He didn't care. It was +enough for him to know that Old Man Coyote had gone that way, and where +Old Man Coyote could go Bowser felt sure he could follow. So, still +baying with all his might and making the hills ring with the sound of +his great voice, Bowser kept on. + +Hidden in a little thicket, stretched out so that he might rest better, +Old Man Coyote listened to that great voice drawing nearer and nearer. +There was a wicked grin on Old Man Coyote's face, and in his yellow eyes +a look of great eagerness. In a few minutes Bowser came in sight, his +nose in the trail Old Man Coyote had left. Into Bowser's voice crept a +new note of eagerness as his nose picked up the scent stronger than +ever. Straight on he raced and it seemed as if he had gained new +strength. His whole thought was on just one thing--catching Old Man +Coyote, and Old Man Coyote knew it. + +Bowser didn't see that he was coming to a steep bank. He didn't see it +at all until he reached the edge of it, and then he was going so fast +that he couldn't stop. Over he went with a frightened yelp! Down, down +he fell, and landed with a thump on the ice below. He landed so hard +that he broke the ice, and went through into the cold, black water. + +Old Man Coyote crept to the edge of the bank and peeped over. Poor +Bowser was having a terrible time. You see, the cold water had taken +what little breath his fall had not knocked out of him. He doesn't like +to go in water anyway. You know the hair of his coat is short and +doesn't protect him as it would if it were long. Old Man Coyote grinned +wickedly as he watched Bowser struggling feebly to climb out on the ice. +Each time he tried he slipped back, and all the time he was whimpering. + +Old Man Coyote grinned more wickedly than ever. I suspect that he hoped +that Bowser would not be able to get out. But after a little Bowser did +manage to crawl out, and stood on the ice, shivering shaking. Once more +Old Man Coyote grinned, then, turning, he trotted back towards Farmer +Brown's. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +POOR BOWSER + + Follow a crooked trail and you will find a scamp at the end. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Poor Bowser! He stood shivering and shaking on the ice of the strange +river to which Old Man Coyote had led him, and he knew not which way to +turn. Not only was he shivering and shaking from his cold bath, but he +was bruised by his fall from the top of the steep bank, and he was so +tired by his long run after Old Man Coyote that he could hardly stand. + +Old Man Coyote had stayed only long enough to see that Bowser had +managed to get out of the water, then had turned back towards the Old +Pasture, the Green Meadows and the Green Forest near Farmer Brown's. You +see, Old Man Coyote knew the way back. He would take his time about +getting there, for it really made no particular difference to him when +he reached home. He felt sure he would be able to find something to eat +on the way. + +But with Bowser it was very different. Poor Bowser didn't know where he +was. It would have been bad enough under any circumstances to have been +lost, but to be lost and at the same time tired almost to death, bruised +and lame, wet and chilled through, was almost too much to bear. He +hadn't the least idea which way to turn. He couldn't climb up the bank +to find his own trail and follow it back home if he wanted to. You see, +that bank was very steep for some distance in each direction, and so it +was impossible for Bowser to climb it. + +For a few minutes he stood shivering, shaking and whimpering, not +knowing which way to turn. Then he started down the river on the ice, +for he knew he would freeze if he continued to stand still. He limped +badly because one leg had been hurt in his fall. After a while he came +to a place where he could get up on the bank. It was in the midst of +deep woods and a very, very lonely place. Hard crusted snow covered the +ground, but it was better than walking on the ice and for this Bowser +was thankful. + +Which way should he turn? Where should he go? Night was coming on; he +was wet, cold and hungry, and as utterly lost as ever a dog was. Poor +Bowser! For a minute or two he sat down and howled from sheer +lonesomeness and discouragement. How he did wish he had left Old Man +Coyote alone! How he did long for his snug, warm, little house in Farmer +Brown's dooryard, and for the good meal he knew was awaiting him there. +Now that the excitement of the hunt was over, he realized how very, very +hungry he was, and he began to wonder where he would be able to get +anything to eat. Do you wonder that he howled? + +Old Man Coyote, trotting along on his way home, heard that howl and +understood it. Again he grinned that wicked grin of his, and stopped to +listen. "I don't think he'll hunt me again in a hurry," he muttered, +then trotted on. Poor Bowser! Hunting for anything but his home was +farthest from his thoughts. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BOWSER SPENDS A BAD NIGHT + + There's nothing like just sticking to + The thing you undertake to do. + There'll be no cause then, though you fail, + To hang your head or drop your tail. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Bowser was lost, utterly lost. He hadn't the least idea in which +direction Farmer Brown's house was. In fact he hadn't the least idea +which way to turn to find any house. It was the most lonely kind of a +lonely place to which Old Man Coyote had led him and there played the +trick on him which had caused him to tumble into the strange river. + +But Bowser couldn't stand still for long. Already jolly, round, red Mr. +Sun was going to bed behind the Purple Hills, and Bowser knew that cold +as had been the day, the night would be still colder. He must keep +moving until he found a shelter. If he didn't he would freeze. So +whimpering and whining, Bowser limped along. + +Bowser was not afraid to be out at night as some folks are. Goodness, +no! In fact, on many a moonlight night Bowser had hunted Reddy Fox or +Granny Fox all night long. Never once had he felt lonesome then. But now +it was very, very different. You see, on those nights when he had hunted +he always had known where he was. He had known that at any time he +could go straight home if he wanted to. That made all the difference in +the world. + +It would have been bad enough, being lost this way, had he been feeling +at his best. Being lost always makes one feel terribly lonesome. +Lonesomeness is one of the worst parts of the feeling of being lost. But +added to this was the fact that Bowser was really not in fit condition +to be out at all. He was wet, tired, lame and hungry. Do you wonder that +he whimpered and whined as he limped along over the hard snow, and +hadn't the least idea whether he was headed towards home or deeper into +the great woods? + +For a long time he kept on until it seemed to him he couldn't drag one +foot after another. Then quite suddenly something big and dark loomed up +in front of him. It really wasn't as big as it seemed. It was a little +house, a sugar camp, just such a one as Farmer Brown has near his home. +Bowser crept to the door. It was closed. Bowser sniffed and sniffed and +his heart sank, for there was no scent of human beings. Then he knew +that that little house was deserted and empty. Still he whined and +scratched at the door. By and by the door opened ever so little, for it +had not been locked. + +Bowser crept in. In one corner he found some hay, and in this he curled +up. It was cold, very cold, but not nearly as cold as outside that +little house. So Bowser curled up in the hay and shivered and shook and +slept a little and wished with all his might that he never had found the +tracks of Old Man Coyote. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SURPRISE OF BLACKY THE CROW + + The harder it is to follow a trail + The greater the reason you should not fail. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +At all seasons of the year Blacky the Crow is something of a traveler. +But in winter he is much more of a traveler than in summer. You see, in +winter it is not nearly so easy to pick up a living. Food is quite as +scarce for Blacky the Crow in winter as for any of the other little +people who neither sleep the winter away nor go south. All of the +feathered folks have to work and work hard to find food enough to keep +them warm. You know it is food that makes heat in the body. + +So in the winter Blacky is in the habit of flying long distances in +search of food. He often goes some miles from the thick hemlock-tree in +the Green Forest where he spends his nights. You may see him starting +out early in the morning and returning late in the afternoon. + +Now Blacky knew all about that river into which Bowser the Hound had +fallen. There was a certain place on that river where Jack Frost never +did succeed in making ice. Sometimes things good to eat would be washed +up along the edge of this open place. Blacky visited it regularly. He +was on the way there now, flying low over the tree-tops. + +Presently he came to a little opening among the trees. In the middle of +it was a little house, a rough little house. Blacky knew all about it. +It was a sugar camp. He knew that only in the spring of the year was he +likely to find anybody about there. All the rest of the year it was shut +up. Every time he passed that way Blacky flew over it. Blacky's eyes are +very sharp indeed, as everybody knows. Now, as he drew near, he noticed +right away that the door was partly open. It hadn't been that way the +last time he passed. + +"Ho!" exclaimed Blacky. "I wonder if the wind blew that open, or if +there is some one inside. I think I'll watch a while." + +So Blacky flew to the top of a tall tree from which he could look all +over the little clearing and could watch the door of the little house. + +For a long time he sat there as silent as the trees themselves. Nothing +happened. He began to grow tired. Rather, he began to grow so hungry +that he became impatient. "If there is anybody in there he must be +asleep," muttered Blacky to himself. "I'll see if I can wake him up. +Caw, caw, ca-a-w, caw, caw!" + +Blacky waited a few minutes, then repeated his cry. He did this three +times and had just made up his mind that there was nobody inside that +little house when a head appeared in the doorway. Blacky was so +surprised that he nearly fell from his perch. + +"As I live," he muttered, "that is Bowser the Hound! It certainly is. +Now what is he doing way over here? I've never known him to go so far +from home before." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +BLACKY THE CROW TAKES PITY ON BOWSER + + Beneath a coat of ebon hue + May beat a heart that's kind and true. + The worst of scamps in time of need + Will often do a kindly deed. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +"Caw, ca-a-w!" exclaimed Blacky the Crow. Bowser looked up to the top of +the tall tree where Blacky sat, and in his great, soft eyes was such a +look of friendliness that it gave Blacky a funny feeling. You know +Blacky is not used to friendly looks. He is used to quite the other +kind. Bowser came out of the old sugar house where he had spent the +night and whined softly as he looked up at Blacky, and as he whined he +wagged his tail ever so slightly. Blacky didn't know what to make of it. +He had never been more surprised in his life. He didn't know which +surprised him most, finding Bowser 'way over here where he had no +business to be, or Bowser's friendliness. + +As for Bowser, he had spent such a forlorn, miserable night, and he was +so terribly lonesome, that the very sound of Blacky's voice had given +him a queer thrill. Never had he thought of Blacky the Crow as a friend. +In fact, he never thought much about Blacky at all. Sometimes he had +chased Blacky out of Farmer Brown's corn-field early in the spring but +that is all he ever had had to do with him. Now, however, lonesome and +lost as he was, the sound of a familiar voice made him tingle all over +with a friendly feeling. So he whined softly and wagged his tail feebly +as he looked up at Blacky sitting in the top of a tall tree. Presently +Bowser limped out to the middle of the little clearing and turned first +this way and then that way. Then he sat down and howled dismally. In an +instant Blacky the Crow understood; Bowser was lost. + +"So that's the trouble," muttered Blacky to himself. "That silly dog has +got himself lost. I never will be able to understand how anybody can +get lost. I never in my life was lost, and never expect to be. But it is +easy enough to see that Bowser is lost and badly lost. My goodness, how +lame he is! I wonder what's happened to him. Serves him right for +hunting other people, but I'm sorry for him just the same. What a +helpless creature a lost dog is, anyway. I suppose if he doesn't find a +house pretty soon he will starve to death. Old Man Coyote wouldn't. +Reddy Fox wouldn't. They would catch something to eat, no matter where +they were. I suppose they wouldn't thank me for doing it, but just the +same I think I'll take pity on Bowser and help him out of his trouble." + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOW BLACKY THE CROW HELPED BOWSER + + The blackest coat may cover the kindest heart. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +When Blacky the Crow said to himself that he guessed he would take pity +on Bowser and help him out of his trouble, he knew that he could do it +without very much trouble to himself. Perhaps if there had been very +much trouble in it, Blacky would not have been quite so ready and +willing. Then again, perhaps it isn't fair to Blacky to think that he +might not have been willing. Even the most selfish people are sometimes +kindly and unselfish. + +Blacky knew just where the nearest house was. You can always trust +Blacky to know not only where every house is within sight of the places +he frequents, but all about the people who live in each house. Blacky +makes it his business to know these things. He could, if he would, tell +you which houses have terrible guns in them and which have not. It is by +knowing such things that Blacky manages to avoid danger. + +"If that dog knows enough to follow me, I'll take him where he can at +least get something to eat," muttered Blacky. "It won't be far out of my +way, anyway, because if he has any sense at all, I won't have to go all +the way over there." + +So Blacky spread his black wings and disappeared over the tree-tops in +the direction of the nearest farmhouse. + +Bowser watched him disappear and whined sadly, for somehow it made him +feel more lonesome than before. But for one thing he would have gone +back to his bed of hay in the corner of that sugar camp. That one thing +was hunger. It seemed to Bowser that his stomach was so empty that the +very sides of it had fallen in. He just _must_ get something to eat. + +So, after waiting a moment or two, Bowser turned and limped away +through the trees, and he limped in the direction which Blacky the Crow +had taken. You see, he could still hear Blacky's voice calling "Caw, +caw, caw", and somehow it made him feel better, less lonesome, you know, +to be within hearing of a voice he knew. + +Bowser had to go on three legs, for one leg had been so hurt in the fall +over the bank that he could not put his foot to the ground. Then, too, +he was very, very stiff from the cold and the wetting he had received +the night before. So poor Bowser made slow work of it, and Blacky the +Crow almost lost patience waiting for him to appear. + +As soon as Bowser came in sight, Blacky gave what was intended for a +cheery caw and then headed straight for the place he had started for +that morning, giving no more thought to Bowser the Hound. You see, he +knew that Bowser would shortly come to a road. "If he doesn't know +enough to follow that road, he deserves to starve," thought Blacky. + +Bowser did know enough to follow that road. The instant he saw that +road, he knew that if he kept on following it, it would lead him +somewhere. So with new hope in his heart, Bowser limped along. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +OLD MAN COYOTE GIVES OUT DARK HINTS + + A little hint dropped there or here, + Is like a seed in spring of year; + It sprouts and grows, and none may say + How big 'twill be some future day. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +After leading Bowser the Hound far, far away and getting him lost in +strange country, Old Man Coyote trotted back to the Old Pasture, the +Green Forest, and the Green Meadows near Farmer Brown's. He didn't have +any trouble at all in finding his way back. You see, all the time he was +leading Bowser away, he himself was using his eyes and taking note of +where he was going. You can't lose Old Man Coyote. No, Sir, you can't +lose Old Man Coyote, and it is of no use to try. + +So, stopping two or three times to hunt a little by the way, Old Man +Coyote trotted back. He managed to pick up a good meal on the way, and +when at last he reached his home in the Old Pasture he was feeling very +well satisfied with the Great World in general and himself in +particular. + +He grinned as only Old Man Coyote can grin. "I don't think any of us +will be bothered by that meddlesome Bowser very soon again," said he, as +he crept into his house for a nap. "If he had drowned in that river, I +shouldn't have cried over it. But even as it is, I don't think he will +get back here in a hurry. I must pass the word along." + +So a day or so later, when Sammy Jay happened along, Old Man Coyote +asked him, in quite a matter-of-fact way, if he had seen anything of +Bowser the Hound for a day or two. + +"Why do you ask?" said Sammy sharply. + +Old Man Coyote grinned slyly. "For no reason at all, Sammy. For no +reason at all," he replied. "It just popped into my head that I hadn't +heard Bowser's voice for two or three days. It set me to wondering if he +is sick, or if anything has happened to him." + +That was enough to start Sammy Jay straight for Farmer Brown's dooryard. +Of course Bowser wasn't to be seen. Sammy hung around and watched. Twice +he saw Farmer Brown's boy come to the door with a worried look on his +face and heard him whistle and call for Bowser. Then there wasn't the +slightest doubt in Sammy's mind that something had happened to Bowser. + +"Old Man Coyote knows something about it, too," muttered Sammy, as he +turned his head on one side and scratched his pointed cap thoughtfully. +"He can't fool me. That old rascal knows where Bowser is, or what has +happened to him, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he had something +to do with it. I almost know he did from the way he grinned." + +The day was not half over before all through the Green Forest and over +the Green Meadows had spread the report that Bowser the Hound was no +more. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +HOW REDDY FOX INVESTIGATED + + In-vest-i-gate if you would know + That something is or isn't so. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +To in-vest-i-gate something means to try to find out about it. Reddy Fox +had heard from so many different ones about the disappearance of Bowser +that he finally made up his mind that he would in-vest-i-gate and find +out for himself if it were true that Bowser was no longer at home in +Farmer Brown's dooryard. If it were true,--well, Reddy had certain plans +of his own in regard to Farmer Brown's henhouse. + +Reddy had begun by doubting that story because it seemed to have come +first from Old Man Coyote. Reddy would doubt anything with which Old Man +Coyote was concerned. But Reddy had finally come to believe that +something certainly had happened because half a dozen times during the +day he had heard Farmer Brown's boy whistle and whistle and call and +call. + +Just as soon as the Black Shadows came creeping out from the Purple +Hills, Reddy started up towards Farmer Brown's. He didn't go directly +there, because he never goes directly anywhere if there is the least +chance in the world that any one may be watching him. But as he slipped +along in the blackest of the Black Shadows, he was all the time working +nearer and nearer to Farmer Brown's dooryard. Although he was inclined +to think it was true that Bowser was not there, he was far too wise to +take any unnecessary risk. He approached Farmer Brown's dooryard just as +carefully as if he knew Bowser to be in his little house as usual. He +kept in the Black Shadows. He crouched so low that he seemed hardly more +than a Black Shadow himself. Every two or three steps he stopped to +look, listen, and test the air with his keen nose. + +As he drew near Bowser's own little house, Reddy circled out around it +until he could see the doorway. Then he sat down where he could peek +around from behind a tree and watch. He had been there only a few +moments when the back door of Farmer Brown's house opened and Farmer +Brown's boy stepped out. Reddy didn't run. He knew that Farmer Brown's +boy would never dream that he would dare come so near. Besides, it was +very clear that Farmer Brown's boy was thinking of no one but Bowser. He +whistled and called just as he had done several times during the day. +But no Bowser came, so after a while Farmer Brown's boy went back into +the house. There was a worried look on his face. + +As soon as he heard the door close, Reddy trotted right out in the open +and sat down only a few feet from the black doorway of Bowser's little +house. Reddy barked softly. Then he barked a little louder. He knew that +if Bowser were at home, that bark would bring him out if nothing else +did. Bowser didn't appear. Reddy grinned. He was sure now that Bowser +was nowhere about. Chuckling to himself, he turned and trotted towards +Farmer Brown's henhouse. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A LITTLE UNPLEASANTNESS + + + Watch a Coyote most closely when it appears that he least needs + watching. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + +Never in his life had Reddy Fox visited Farmer Brown's henhouse with +quite such a comfortable feeling as he now had. He knew for a certainty +that Bowser the Hound was not at home. He knew because he had finally +crept up and peeped in the door of Bowser's little house. What had +become of Bowser he didn't know, and he didn't care. It was enough to +know that he wasn't about. + +"I hope Farmer Brown's boy has forgotten to close that little doorway +where the hens run in and out," muttered Reddy, as he trotted across +Farmer Brown's dooryard. Once he stopped, and looking up at the lighted +windows of the house, grinned. You see, with Bowser gone, Reddy wasn't +the least bit afraid. + +"If I can get into that henhouse," thought Reddy, "I certainly will have +one good feast to-night. That is, I will if those stupid hens are not +roosting so high that I can't get them. I'll eat one right there." +Reddy's mouth watered at the very thought. "Then I'll take one home to +Mrs. Reddy. If there is time we both will come back for a couple more." + +So Reddy made pleasant plans as he approached Farmer Brown's henhouse. +When he reached it he paused to listen to certain sounds within, certain +fretful little cluckings. Reddy sat down for a minute with his tongue +hanging out and the water actually dripping from it. He could shut his +eyes and see those roosts with the hens crowded together so that every +once in a while one would be wakened and fretfully protest against being +crowded so. + +But Reddy sat there only for a minute. He was too eager to find out if +it would prove to be possible to get inside that henhouse. Running +swiftly but cautiously past the henhouse and along one side of the +henyard, he peeped around the corner to see if by any chance the yard +gate had been left open. His heart gave a leap of joy as he saw that the +gate was not quite closed. All he would have to do would be to push it +and enter. + +Reddy turned the corner quickly. Just as he put up one paw to push the +gate open, a low but decidedly ugly growl made him jump back with every +hair of his coat standing on end. His first thought was of Bowser. It +must be that Bowser had returned! Believing in safety first, Reddy did +not stop to see who had growled, but ran swiftly a short distance. Then +he looked behind him. Over at the gate of Farmer Brown's henyard he +could see a dark form. At once Reddy knew that it wasn't Bowser the +Hound, for it had a bushy tail, while Bowser's was smooth. Reddy knew +who it was. It was Old Man Coyote. + +[Illustration: OVER AT THE GATE OF FARMER BROWN'S HENYARD HE COULD SEE A +DARK FORM] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CLEVERNESS OF OLD MAN COYOTE + + Who thinks the quickest and the best + Is bound to win in every test. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +The meeting of Reddy Fox and Old Man Coyote just outside the gate to +Farmer Brown's henyard had been wholly unexpected to both. Reddy had +been so eager to get inside that gate that when he turned the corner at +the henyard he hadn't looked beyond the gate. If he had looked beyond, +he would have seen Old Man Coyote just coming around the other corner. +As for Old Man Coyote, he had been so surprised at sight of Reddy Fox +that he had growled before he had had time to think. He was sorry the +very instant he did it. + +"That certainly was a stupid thing to do," muttered Old Man Coyote to +himself, as he watched Reddy Fox run away in a panic. "I should have +kept out of sight and let him open that gate and go inside first. There +may be traps in there, for all I know. When there's likely to be danger, +always let some one else find it out for you if you can." Old Man Coyote +grinned as he said this. + +Reddy Fox sat down at a safe distance to watch what Old Man Coyote +would do. Inside, Reddy was fairly boiling with disappointment and +anger. He felt that he hated Old Man Coyote more than he hated anybody +else he knew of. He hated him, yet there wasn't a thing he could do +about it. He didn't dare fight Old Man Coyote. All he could do was to +sit there at a safe distance and watch. + +The gate of the henyard was open two or three inches. For a long time +Old Man Coyote stood looking through that little opening. Once or twice +he thrust his nose out and sniffed cautiously around the gate, but he +took the greatest care not to touch it. Finally he turned and trotted +away towards the Green Forest. + +Reddy sat right where he was, so surprised that he couldn't even think. +He waited a long time to see if Old Man Coyote would return, but Old Man +Coyote didn't return, and at last Reddy cautiously crept towards that +unlocked gate. "I do believe that fellow didn't know enough to push that +gate open," muttered Reddy to himself. "I always supposed Old Man Coyote +was smart, but if this is an example of his smartness I'll match my wits +against his any day." + +All this time Old Man Coyote was not so far away as Reddy thought. He +had gone only fat enough to make sure that Reddy couldn't see him. Then, +creeping along in the blackest of the Black Shadows, he had returned to +a place where he could watch Reddy. + +"It's queer that gate should have been left unlocked," thought Old Man +Coyote. "It may have been an accident, and again it may have been done +purposely. There may not be any danger inside; then again there may. I'm +not going to push that gate open or step inside when there is some one +to do it for me. I'll just leave it for Reddy Fox to do." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MISCHIEVOUS LITTLE NIGHT BREEZE + + A little act of mischief can + Upset the deepest, best laid plan. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Reddy Fox was very pleased with himself as he thought how much smarter +he was than Old Man Coyote. He didn't waste any time in pushing open the +henyard gate. It didn't enter his head that there might be a trap +inside. He was so eager to find out if the little door where in daytime +the hens ran in and out of the henhouse was open, that he jumped inside +the henyard just as soon as the gate was pushed open wide enough for him +to enter. + +Old Man Coyote, watching from his hiding place, saw Reddy push the gate +open and enter the henyard. "So far, so good," muttered Old Man Coyote +to himself. "There isn't any trap just inside that gate, so it will be +safe enough for me to follow Reddy in there. I think I'll wait a bit, +however, and see what luck he has in getting into the henhouse. If he +catches a chicken he won't stop to eat it there. He won't dare to. All I +need do is to wait right here around the corner, and if he brings a +chicken out, I'll simply tell him to drop it. Then I will have the +chicken and will have run no risk." You see Old Man Coyote is a very, +very clever old sinner. + +So Old Man Coyote peeked through the wires and watched Reddy Fox, who +thought himself so much smarter, steal swiftly across to the henhouse +and try that little door. It was closed, but it wasn't fastened, as +Reddy could tell by poking at it. + +"It is just a matter of time and patience," muttered Reddy to himself. +"If I keep at it long enough, I can work it open." You see Reddy had +done that very thing once before a great while ago. + +So he set himself to work with such patience as he could, and all the +time Old Man Coyote watched and wondered what Reddy was doing. He +guessed that Reddy was having some trouble, but also he knew from +Reddy's actions that Reddy hoped to get inside that henhouse. + +Now Reddy had left the henyard gate ajar. If he had pushed it wide open +things might have been different. But he didn't push it wide open. He +left it only halfway open. By and by there happened along a mischievous +little Night Breeze. There is nothing that a mischievous little Night +Breeze enjoys more than making things move. This mischievous little +Night Breeze found that that gate would swing, so it blew against that +gate and blew and blew until suddenly, with a sharp little click, the +gate closed and the spring latch snapped into place. Reddy Fox was a +prisoner! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE + + You'll find 'twill often come about + That he who's in fain would be out. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +It certainly is queer what a difference there is between being inside +and outside. Sometimes happiness is inside and sometimes it is outside. +Sometimes the one who is inside wishes with all his might that he were +outside, and sometimes the one who is outside would give anything in the +world to be inside. + +Just take the case of Reddy Fox. He had stolen inside of Farmer Brown's +henyard, leaving the gate halfway open. He had set himself to work to +open the little sliding door through which in the daytime the hens +passed in and out of the henhouse. As he worked he had been filled with +great contentment and joy. He knew that Bowser the Hound had +disappeared. He felt sure that there was nothing to fear, and he fully +expected to dine that night on chicken. Then along came a mischievous +little Night Breeze and swung that gate shut. + +At the click of the latch Reddy turned his head, and in a flash he saw +what had happened. All in an instant everything had changed for Reddy +Fox. Fear and despair took the place of contentment and happy +anticipations. He was a prisoner inside that henyard. + +Frantically Reddy rushed over to the gate. There wasn't even a crack +through which he could thrust his sharp little nose. Then, beside +himself with fear, he raced around that henyard, seeking a hole through +which he might escape. There wasn't any hole. That fence had been built +to keep out such people as Reddy Fox, and of course a fence that would +keep Reddy out would also keep him in, if he happened to be caught +inside as he now was. He couldn't dig down under it, because, you know, +the ground was frozen hard and covered with snow and an icy crust. He +was caught, and that was all there was to it. + +Suddenly Reddy became aware of some one just outside the wire fence, +looking in and grinning wickedly. It was Old Man Coyote. Between them +was nothing but that wire, but, oh, what a difference! Reddy was inside +and a prisoner. Old Man Coyote was outside and free. + +"Good evening, Reddy," said Old Man Coyote. "I hope you'll enjoy your +chicken dinner. When you are eating it, just think over this bit of +advice: Never take a risk when you can get some one else to take it for +you. I would like a chicken dinner myself, but as it is, I think I will +enjoy a Mouse or two better. Pay my respects to Farmer Brown's boy when +he comes in the morning." + +With this, Old Man Coyote once more grinned that wicked grin of his and +trotted away towards the Green Forest. Reddy watched him disappear and +would have given anything in the world to have been outside the fence in +his place instead of inside, where he then was. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +REDDY'S FORLORN CHANCE + + This saying is both true and terse: + There's nothing bad but might be worse. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +If any one had said this to Reddy Fox during the first half hour after +he discovered that he was a prisoner in Farmer Brown's henyard, he +wouldn't have believed it. He wouldn't have believed a word of it. He +would have said that he couldn't possibly have been worse off than he +was. + +He was a prisoner, and he couldn't possibly get out. He knew that in the +morning Farmer Brown's boy would certainly discover him. It couldn't be +otherwise. That is, it couldn't be otherwise as long as he remained in +that henyard. There wasn't a thing, not one solitary thing, under or +behind which he could hide. So, to Reddy's way of thinking, things +couldn't possibly have been worse. + +But after a while, having nothing else to do, Reddy began to think. Now +it is surprising how thinking will change matters. One of the first +thoughts that came to Reddy was that he might have been caught in a +trap,--one of those cruel traps that close like a pair of jaws and +sometimes break the bones of the foot or leg, and from which there is +no escape. Right away Reddy realized that to have been so caught would +have been much worse than being a prisoner in Farmer Brown's henyard. +This made him feel just a wee, wee bit better, and he began to do some +more thinking. + +For a long time his thinking didn't help him in the least. At last, +however, he remembered the chicken dinner he had felt so sure he was +going to enjoy. The thought of the chicken dinner reminded him that +inside the henhouse it was dark. He had been inside that henhouse +before, and he knew that there were boxes in there. If he were inside +the henhouse, it might be, it just might possibly be, that he could +hide when Farmer Brown's boy came in the morning. + +So once more Reddy went to work at that little sliding door where the +hens ran in and out during the day. He already had found out that it +wasn't fastened, and he felt sure that with patience he could open it. +So he worked away and worked away, until at last there was a little +crack. He got his claws in the little crack and pulled and pulled. The +little crack became a little wider. By and by it was wide enough for him +to get his whole paw in. Then it became wide enough for him to get his +head half in. After this, all he had to do was to force himself +through, for as he pushed and shoved, the little door opened. He was +inside at last! There was a chance, just a forlorn chance, that he might +be able to escape the notice of Farmer Brown's boy in the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WHY REDDY WENT WITHOUT A CHICKEN DINNER + + A dinner is far better lost + Than eaten at too great a cost. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Can you imagine Reddy Fox with a chicken dinner right before him and not +touching it? Well, that is just what happened in Farmer Brown's +henhouse. It wasn't because Reddy had no appetite. He was hungry, very +hungry. He always is in winter. Then it doesn't often happen that he +gets enough to eat at one meal to really fill his stomach. Yet here he +was with a chicken dinner right before him, and he didn't touch it. + +You see it was this way: Reddy's wits were working very fast there in +Farmer Brown's henhouse. He knew that he had only a forlorn chance of +escaping when Farmer Brown's boy should come to open the henhouse in the +morning. He knew that he must make the most of that forlorn chance. He +knew that freedom is a thousand times better than a full stomach. + +On one of the lower roosts sat a fat hen. She was within easy jumping +distance. Reddy knew that with one quick spring she would be his. If the +henyard gate had been open, he would have wasted no time in making that +one quick spring. But the henyard gate, as you know, was closed fast. + +"I'm awfully hungry," muttered Reddy to himself, "but if I should catch +and eat that fat hen, Farmer Brown's boy would be sure to notice the +feathers on the floor the very minute he opened the door. It won't do, +Reddy; it won't do. You can't afford to have the least little thing seem +wrong in this henhouse. What you have got to do is to swallow your +appetite and keep quiet in the darkest corner you can find," + +So Reddy Fox spent the rest of the night curled up in the darkest +corner, partly behind a box. All the time his nose was filled with the +smell of fat hens. Every little while a hen who was being crowded too +much on the roost would stir uneasily and protest in a sleepy voice. +Just think of what Reddy suffered. Just think how you would feel to be +very, very hungry and have right within reach the one thing you like +best in all the world to eat and then not dare touch it. Some foolish +folks in Reddy's place would have eaten that dinner and trusted to luck +to get out of trouble later. But Reddy was far too wise to do anything +of that kind. + +Doing as Reddy did that night is called exercising self-restraint. +Everybody should be able to do it. But it sometimes seems as if very +many people cannot do it. Anyway, they don't do it, and because they +don't do it they are forever getting into trouble. + +Reddy knew when morning came, although the henhouse was still dark. +Somehow or other hens always know just when jolly, round, red Mr. Sun +kicks his blankets off and begins his daily climb up in the blue, blue +sky. The big rooster on the topmost perch stretched his long neck, +flapped his wings, and crowed at the top of his voice. Reddy shivered. +"It won't be long now before Farmer Brown's boy comes," thought he. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY DROPS A PAN OF CORN + + Who when surprised keeps calm and cool + Is one most difficult to fool. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +In his lifetime Reddy Fox has spent many anxious moments, but none more +anxious than those in which he waited for Farmer Brown's boy to open the +henhouse and feed the biddies on this particular morning. + +From the moment when the big rooster on the topmost perch stretched +forth his neck, flapped his wings, and crowed as only he can crow, Reddy +was on pins and needles, as the saying is. Hiding behind a box in the +darkest corner of the henhouse, he hardly dared to breathe. You see, he +didn't want those hens to discover him. He knew that if they did they +would make such a racket that they would bring Farmer Brown's boy +hurrying out to find out what the trouble was. + +Reddy had had experience with hens before. He knew that if Farmer +Brown's boy heard them making a great racket, he would know that +something was wrong, and he would come all prepared. This was the one +thing that Reddy did not want. His one chance to escape would be to take +Farmer Brown's boy entirely by surprise. + +Never had time dragged more slowly. The hens were awake, and several of +them flew down to the floor of the henhouse. They passed so close to +where Reddy was hiding that merely by reaching out a black paw he could +have touched them. Because he took particular pains not to move, not +even to twitch a black ear, they did not see him. Anyway, if they did +see him, they took no notice of him. How the moments did drag! All the +time he lay there listening, wishing that Farmer Brown's boy would come, +yet dreading to have him come. It seemed ages before he heard sounds +which told him that people were awake in Farmer Brown's house. + +Finally he heard a distant door slam. Then he heard a whistle, a merry +whistle. It drew nearer and nearer; Farmer Brown's boy was coming to +feed the hens. Reddy tried to hold his breath. He heard the click of the +henyard gate as Farmer Brown's boy opened it, then he heard the crunch, +crunch, crunch of Farmer Brown's boy's feet on the snow. + +Suddenly the henhouse door was thrown open and Farmer Brown's boy +stepped inside. In his hand he held a pan filled with the breakfast he +had brought for the hens. Suddenly a box in the darkest corner of the +henhouse moved. Farmer Brown's boy turned to look, and as he did so a +slim form dashed fairly between his legs. It startled him so that he +dropped the pan and spilled the corn all over the henhouse floor. "Great +Scott!" he exclaimed. "What under the sun was that?" and rushed to the +door to see. He was just in time to get a glimpse of a red coat and a +bushy tail disappearing around a corner of the barn. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MUTUAL RELIEF + + The wise Fox knows that with every chicken he steals he puts an + increased price on his own skin. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +When Reddy Fox dashed between the legs of Farmer Brown's boy and out of +the open door of the henhouse, it was with his heart in his mouth. At +least, it seemed that way. Would he find the henyard gate open? +Supposing Farmer Brown's boy had closed it after he entered! Reddy would +then be a prisoner just as he had been all night, and all hope would +end. + +Just imagine with what terrible anxiety and eagerness Reddy looked +towards that gate as he dashed out of the open door. Just imagine the +relief that was his when he saw that the gate was open. In that very +instant the snowy outside world became more beautiful and wonderful than +ever it had been in all his life before. He was free! free! free! + +If ever there was a surprised boy, that boy was Farmer Brown's as he +watched Reddy twist around a corner of the barn and disappear. + +"Reddy Fox!" he exclaimed. "Now how under the sun did that rascal get in +here?" Then, as he realized that Reddy had actually been inside the +henhouse, anxiety for the biddies swept over him. Hastily he turned, +fully expecting to see either the bodies of two or three hens on the +floor, or scattered feathers to show that Reddy had enjoyed a midnight +feast. There were no feathers, and so far as he could see, all the hens +were standing or walking about. + +At once Farmer Brown's boy began to count them. Of course, he knew +exactly how many there should be. When he got through counting, not one +was missing. Farmer Brown's boy was puzzled. He counted them again. Then +he counted them a third time. He began to think there must be something +wrong with his counting. After the fourth count, however, he was forced +to believe that not a single one was missing. + +If Reddy Fox had been relieved when he discovered that henyard gate +open, Farmer Brown's boy was equally relieved when he found that not a +single biddie had been taken. When two people are relieved at the same +time, it is called mutual relief. But there was this difference between +Reddy Fox and Farmer Brown's boy: Reddy knew all about what had +happened, and Farmer Brown's boy couldn't even guess. He went all around +that henhouse, trying to find a way by which Reddy Fox had managed to +get in. Of course, he discovered that the little sliding door where the +biddies go in and out of the henhouse was open. He guessed that this +was the way by which Reddy had entered. + +But this didn't explain matters at all. He knew that the gate had been +latched when he entered the henyard that morning. How had Reddy managed +to get into that henyard with that gate closed? To this day, Farmer +Brown's boy is still wondering. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +WHERE WAS BOWSER THE HOUND? + + A good Hound never barks on a cold trail. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Where was Bowser the Hound? That was the question which was puzzling all +the little people who knew him. Also it was puzzling Farmer Brown's boy +and Farmer Brown and Mrs. Brown. I have said that it was puzzling all +the little people who knew him. This is not quite true, because there +were two who could at least guess what had become of Bowser. One was Old +Man Coyote, who had, as you remember, led Bowser far away and got him +lost. The other was Blacky the Crow, who had discovered Bowser in his +trouble and had helped him. + +Old Man Coyote didn't know exactly where Bowser was, and he wasn't +interested enough to think much about it. He hoped that Bowser had been +so badly lost that he never would return. Blacky the Crow knew exactly +where Bowser was, but he kept it to himself. It pleases Blacky to have a +secret which other people would give much to know. Blacky is one of +those people who can keep a secret. He isn't at all like Peter Rabbit. + +Reddy Fox was one who was very much interested in the fate of Bowser +the Hound. As day after day went by and Bowser did not appear, Reddy had +a growing hope that he never would appear. + +"I can't imagine what Old Man Coyote could have done to Bowser," said +Reddy to himself. "He certainly couldn't have killed Bowser in a fight, +for that old rascal would never in the world dare face Bowser the Hound +in a fight. But he certainly has caused something to happen to Bowser. +If that bothersome dog never returns, it certainly will make things a +lot easier for Granny Fox and myself." + +As for Farmer Brown's boy, he was as much puzzled as any of the little +people and a whole lot more worried. He drove all about the +neighborhood, asking at every house if anything had been seen of +Bowser, Nowhere did he get any trace of him. No one had seen him. It was +very mysterious. Farmer Brown's boy had begun to suspect that Bowser had +met with an accident somewhere off in the woods and had been unable to +get help. It made Farmer Brown's boy very sad indeed. His cheery whistle +was no longer heard, for he did not feel like whistling. At last he +quite gave up hope of ever again seeing Bowser. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WHERE BOWSER WAS + + When things are at their very worst, + As bad, you think, as they can be, + Just lay aside your feelings sad; + The road ahead may turn, you see. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +You remember that Blacky the Crow led poor Bowser to an old road and +there left him. Blacky reasoned that if Bowser had any sense at all, he +would know that that road must lead somewhere and would follow it. If he +didn't have sense enough to do this, he deserved to starve or freeze, +was the way Blacky reasoned it out. Of course Blacky knew exactly where +the road would lead. + +Now Bowser did have sense. Of course he did. The minute he found that +road, a great load was taken from his mind. He no longer felt wholly +lost. He was certain that all he had to do was to keep in that road, and +sooner or later he would come to a house. The thing that worried him +most was whether or not he would have strength enough to keep going +until he reached that house. You remember that he was weak from lack of +food, lame, and half frozen. + +Poor old Bowser! He certainly was the picture of misery as he limped +along that road. His tail hung down as if he hadn't strength enough to +hold it up. His head also hung low. He walked on three legs and limped +with one of these. In his eyes was such a look of pain and suffering as +would have touched the hardest heart. He whined and whimpered as he +limped along. + +It seemed to him that he had gone a terribly long distance, though +really it was not far at all, when something tickled his nose, that +wonderful nose which can smell the tracks of others long after they have +passed. But this time it wasn't the smell of a track that tickled his +nose; it was something in the air. Bowser lifted his head and sniffed +long and hard. What he smelled was smoke. He knew what that meant. +Somewhere not very far ahead of him was a house. + +[Illustration: SOMEWHERE NOT VERY FAR AHEAD OF HIM WAS A HOUSE. _Page +96._] + +With new hope and courage Bowser tried to hurry on. Presently around a +turn of the road he saw a farmyard. The smell of the smoke from the +chimney of the farmhouse was stronger now, and with it was mingled an +appetizing smell of things cooking. Into Bowser's whimper there now +crept a little note of eagerness as he dragged himself across the +farmyard and up to the back door. There his strength quite left him. He +didn't have enough left to even bark. All he could do was whine. After +what seemed a long, long time the door opened, and a motherly woman +stood looking down at him. Two minutes later Bowser lay on a mat close +by the kitchen stove. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BOWSER BECOMES A PRISONER + + There is no one in all the Great World more faithful than a + faithful dog. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Bowser the Hound was a prisoner. Yes, Sir, Bowser was a sure-enough +prisoner. But there is a great difference in prisons. Bowser was a +prisoner of kindness. It seems funny that kindness should ever make any +one a prisoner, but it is so sometimes. + +You see, it was this way: When Bowser had been taken in to that strange +farmhouse, he had been so used up that he had had only strength enough +to very feebly wag his tail. Right away the people in that farmhouse +knew what had happened to Bowser. That is, they knew part of what had +happened to him. They knew that he had been lost and had somehow hurt +one leg. They were very, very good to him. They fed him, and made a +comfortable bed for him, and rubbed something on the leg which he had +hurt and which had swollen. Almost right away after eating Bowser went +to sleep and slept and slept and slept. It was the very best thing he +could have done. + +The next day he felt a whole lot better, but he was so stiff and lame +that he could hardly move. He didn't try very much. He was petted and +cared for quite as tenderly as he would have been at his own home. So +several days passed, and Bowser was beginning to feel more like himself. +The more he felt like himself, the more he wanted to go home. It wasn't +that there he would receive any greater kindness than he was now +receiving, but home is home and there is no place like it. So Bowser +began to be uneasy. + +"This dog doesn't belong anywhere around here," said the man of the +house. "I know every Hound for miles around, and I never have seen this +one before. He has come a long distance. It will not do to let him go, +for he will try to find his way home and the chances are that he will +again get lost. We must keep him in the house or chained up. Perhaps +some day we may be able to find his owner. If not, we will keep him. I +am sure he will soon become contented here." + +Now that man knew dogs. Had Bowser had the chance, he would have done +exactly what that man had said. He would have tried to find his way +home, and he hadn't the least idea in the world in which direction home +lay. But he didn't get the chance to try. When he was allowed to run out +of doors it was always with some one to watch him. He was petted and +babied and made a great deal of, but he knew all the time that he was a +prisoner. He knew that if he was to get away at all he would have to +sneak away, and somehow there never seemed a chance to do this. He was +grateful to these kindly people, but down in his heart was a great +longing for Farmer Brown's boy and _home_. He always felt this longing +just a wee bit stronger when Blacky the Crow passed over and cawed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY LOOKS IN VAIN + + Loyalty is priceless and + Is neither sold nor bought. + Alas, how few who seem to know + Its value as they ought. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +As I have told you, Farmer Brown's boy had been all about the +neighborhood asking at each farmhouse if anything had been seen of +Bowser. Of course nothing had been seen of him, and so at last Farmer +Brown's boy felt sure that something dreadful had happened to Bowser in +the woods. + +For several days he tramped through the Green Forest and up through the +Old Pasture, looking for signs of Bowser. His heart was heavy, for you +know Bowser was quite one of the family. He visited every place he could +think of where he and Bowser had hunted together. He knew that by this +time Bowser couldn't possibly be alive if he had been caught by a foot +in a trap or had met with an accident in the woods. He had quite given +up all hope of ever seeing Bowser alive again. But he did want to know +just what had happened to him, and so he kept searching and searching. + +One day Farmer Brown's boy heard that a strange dog had been found over +in the next township. That afternoon he drove over there, his heart +filled with great hope. But he had his long ride for nothing, for when +he got there he found that the strange dog was not Bowser at all. + +Meanwhile Old Man Coyote and Reddy Fox and Old Granny Fox had become +very bold. They even came up around the henyard in broad daylight. + +"I believe you know something about what has become of Bowser," Farmer +Brown's boy said, as he chased Old Man Coyote away one day. "You +certainly know that he isn't home, and I more than suspect that you know +_why_ he isn't home. I certainly shall have to get another dog to teach +you not to be so bold." + +But somehow Farmer Brown's boy couldn't bring himself quite to taking +such a step as getting a new dog. He felt that no other dog ever could +take Bowser's place, and in spite of the fact that he thought he had +given up all hope of ever seeing Bowser again, 'way down deep inside was +something which, if it were not hope, was something enough like it to +keep him from getting another dog in Bowser's place. + +Whenever he went about away from home, he kept an eye out for dogs in +the farmyards he passed. He did it without really thinking anything +about it. He had given up hope of finding Bowser, yet he was always +looking for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +BOWSER'S GREAT VOICE + + To long for home when far away + Will rob of joy the brightest day. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +There is as much difference in the voices of dogs as in the voices of +human beings. For that matter, this is true of many of the little people +who wear fur. Bowser the Hound had a wonderful, deep, clear voice, a +voice that could be heard a great distance. No one who knew it would +ever mistake it for the voice of any other Hound. + +As a rule, Bowser seldom used that great voice of his save when he was +hunting some one. Then, when the scent was strong, he gave tongue so +fast that you wondered how he had breath enough left to run. But now +that he was a prisoner of kindness, in the home of the people who had +taken him in when he had crept to their doorstep, Bowser sometimes bayed +from sheer homesickness. When he was tied out in the yard, he would +sometimes get to thinking of his home and long to see Farmer Brown and +Mrs. Brown and especially his master, Farmer Brown's boy. Then, when he +could stand it no longer, he would open his mouth and send his great +voice rolling across to the woods with a tone of mournfulness which +never had been there before. + +But great as was Bowser's voice, and far as it would carry, there was +none who knew him to hear it, save Blacky the Crow. You remember that +Blacky knew just where Bowser was and often flew over that farmyard to +make sure that Bowser was still there. So more than once Blacky heard +Bowser's great voice with its mournful note, and understood it. + +It troubled Blacky. Yes, Sir, it actually troubled Blacky. He knew just +what was the matter with Bowser, but for the life of him he couldn't +think of any way of helping Bowser. "That dog is homesick," croaked +Blacky, as he sat in the top of a tall tree, scratching his head as if +he thought he might scratch an idea out of it. "Of course he doesn't +know how to get home, and if he tried he probably would get as badly +lost as he was before. Anyway, they don't give him a chance to try. I +can't lead Farmer Brown's boy over here because he doesn't understand my +talk, and I don't understand his. There isn't a thing I can do but keep +watch. I wish Bowser would stop barking. It makes me feel uncomfortable. +Yes, Sir, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Old Man Coyote got Bowser into +this trouble, and he ought to get him out again, but I don't suppose it +is the least bit of use to ask him. It won't do any harm to try, +anyway." + +So Blacky started back for the Green Forest and the Old Pasture near +Farmer Brown's to look for Old Man Coyote, and for a long time as he +flew he could hear Bowser's voice with its note of homesickness and +longing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +BLACKY TRIES TO GET HELP + + You'll find that nothing more worth while can be + Than helping others whose distress you see. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +On his way back to the Green Forest near Farmer Brown's home, Blacky the +Crow kept a sharp watch for Old Man Coyote. But Old Man Coyote was +nowhere to be seen, and it was too late to go look for him, because +jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had already gone to bed behind the Purple +Hills and the Black Shadows were hurrying towards the Green Forest. + +Blacky never is out after dark. You might think that one with so black +a coat would be fond of the Black Shadows, but it isn't so at all. The +fact is, bold and impudent as Blacky the Crow is in daylight, he is +afraid of the dark. He is quite as timid as anybody I know of in the +dark. So Blacky always contrives to go to bed early and is securely +hidden away in his secret roosting-place by the time the Black Shadows +reach the edge of the Green Forest. + +Perhaps it isn't quite fair to say that Blacky is afraid of the dark. It +isn't the dark itself that Blacky fears, but it is one who is abroad in +the dark. It is Hooty the Owl. Hooty would just as soon dine on Blacky +the Crow as he would on any one else, and Blacky knows it. + +The next morning, bright and early, Blacky flew over to the Old Pasture +to the home of Old Man Coyote. Just as he got there he saw Old Man +Coyote coming home from an all-night hunt. "I hope you have had good +hunting," said Blacky politely. + +Old Man Coyote looked up at Blacky sharply. Blacky is polite only when +he wants to get something. "There was plenty of hunting, but little +enough reward for it," replied Old Man Coyote. "What brings you over +here so early? I should suppose you would be looking for a breakfast." + +Now Blacky the Crow is a very wise fellow. He knows when it is to be +sly and crafty and when it is best to be frank and out-spoken. This was +a time for the latter. "I know where Bowser the Hound is," said Blacky. +"I saw him yesterday." + +Old Man Coyote pricked up his ears and grinned. "I thought he was dead," +said he. "It's a long time since we've heard from Bowser. Is he well?" + +"Quite well," replied Blacky, "but unhappy. He is homesick. I suspect +that the trouble with Bowser is that he hasn't the least idea in which +direction home lies. You enjoy running, so why not go with me to pay +Bowser a visit and then lead him back home?" + +Old Man Coyote threw back his head and laughed in that crazy fashion of +his till the very hills rang with the sound of his voice. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BLACKY CALLS ON REDDY FOX + + Saying what you mean, and meaning what you say + Are matters quite as different as night is from the day. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Blacky the Crow wasted no time with Old Man Coyote after he heard Old +Man Coyote laugh. There was a note in that crazy laugh of Old Man +Coyote's that told Blacky he might just as well talk to the rocks or the +trees about helping Bowser the Hound. Old Man Coyote had led Bowser into +his trouble, and it was quite clear that not only did he have no +regrets, but he was actually glad that Bowser was not likely to return. + +"You're a hard-hearted old sinner," declared Blacky, as he prepared to +fly in search of Reddy Fox. + +Old Man Coyote grinned. "It is every one for himself, you know," said +he. "Bowser would do his best to catch me if he had the chance. So if he +is in trouble, he can stay there for all of me." + +It didn't take Blacky long to find Reddy Fox. You see, it was so early +in the morning that Reddy had not retired for his daily nap. Like Old +Man Coyote, he was just returning from a night's hunt when Blacky +arrived. + +"Hello, Reddy!" exclaimed Blacky. "You certainly are looking in mighty +fine condition. That red coat of yours is the handsomest coat I've ever +seen. If I had a coat like that I know I should be so swelled up with +pride that I just wouldn't be able to see common folks. I'm glad you're +not that way, Reddy. One of the things I like about you is the fact that +you never allow your fine coat to make you proud. That is more than I +can say for some folks I know." + +Reddy Fox sat down with his big bushy tail curled around to keep his +toes warm, cocked his head on one side, and looked up at Blacky the Crow +as if he were trying to see right inside that black head to find out +what was going on there. + +"Now what has that black scamp got in his mind," thought Reddy. "He +never pays compliments unless he wants something in return. That old +black rascal has the smoothest tongue in the Green Forest. He hasn't +come 'way over here just to tell me that I have a handsome coat. He +wouldn't fly over a fence to tell anybody that unless it was for a +purpose." + +Aloud he said, "Good morning, Blacky. I suppose I must admit I have a +fine coat. Perhaps I do look very fine, but if you could see under this +red coat of mine, you would find mighty little meat on my ribs. To be +quite honest, I am not feeling half as fine as I look. You lucky +fellows who can fly and don't have to think about distances may be able +to live well these days, but as for me, I've forgotten when last I had a +good meal." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +RED WITS AND BLACK WITS + + This fact you'll find is always so: + He's quick of wit who fools a Crow. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +There is no greater flatterer in the Green Forest or on the Green +Meadows than Blacky the Crow when he hopes to gain something thereby. +His tongue is so smooth that it is a wonder it does not drip oil. He is +crafty, is Blacky. But these same things are true of Reddy Fox. No one +ever yet had a chance to accuse Reddy Fox of lacking in sharp wits. +Mistakes he makes, as everybody does, but Reddy's wits are always keen +and active. + +Now Reddy knew perfectly well that Blacky wanted something of him, and +this was why he was saying such pleasant things. Blacky the Crow knew +that Reddy knew this thing, and that if he would make use of Reddy as he +hoped to, he must contrive to keep Reddy wholly in the dark as to what +he wanted done. + +So as they sat there, Reddy Fox on the snow with his tail curled around +his feet to keep them warm, and Blacky the Crow in the top of a little +tree above Reddy's head, they were playing a sort of game. It was red +wits against black wits. Reddy was trying to outguess Blacky, and +Blacky was trying to outguess Reddy, and both were enjoying it. People +with sharp wits always enjoy matching their wits against other sharp +wits. + +When Reddy Fox said that in spite of his fine appearance he had +forgotten when last he had had a good meal, Blacky pretended to think he +was joking. "You surprise me," said he. "Whatever is the matter with my +good friend Reddy, that he goes hungry when he no longer has anything to +fear from Bowser the Hound. By the way, I saw Bowser the other day." + +At this, just for an instant, Reddy's eyes flew wide open. Then they +half closed again until they were just two yellow slits. But quickly as +he closed them, Blacky had seen that startled surprise. "Yes," said +Blacky, "I saw Bowser the other day, or at least some one who looked +just like him. Wouldn't you like to have him back here, Reddy?" + +"Most decidedly no," replied Reddy with great promptness. "A dog is a +nuisance. He isn't of any use in the wide, wide world." + +"Not even to drive off Old Man Coyote?" asked Blacky slyly, for he knew +that more than once Bowser the Hound had helped Reddy out of trouble +with Old Man Coyote. + +Reddy pretended not to hear this. "I don't believe you saw Bowser," +said he. "I don't believe anybody will ever see Bowser again. I hope +not, anyway." And Blacky knew by the way Reddy said this that it would +be quite useless to ask Reddy to help get Bowser home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE ARTFULNESS OF BLACKY + + Who runs in circles never gets far. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +To be artful is to be very clever. It is to do things in a way so clever +that people will not see what you are really doing. No one can be more +artful than Blacky the Crow when he sets out to be. + +Blacky was smart enough not to let Reddy know that he was seeking +Reddy's help for Bowser. He soon found out that Reddy would not +knowingly help the least little bit, so he decided at once that the +only thing for him to do was to get Reddy to help unsuspectingly. He +changed the subject very abruptly. + +"How are the chickens at Farmer Brown's?" inquired he. + +Reddy looked up and grinned. "They seem to be in just as good health as +ever," said he, "so far as I can judge. Farmer Brown's boy seems to be +terribly suspicious. He locks them up at night so tight that not even +Shadow the Weasel could get his nose inside that henhouse." + +Blacky's eyes twinkled, but he took care that Reddy should not see them. +"Farmer Brown's boy is different from some folks I know," said he. + +"How's that?" demanded Reddy Fox. + +"Why," replied Blacky, "there is a certain farmyard I know of where the +hens are not kept shut up at all in the daytime, but run around where +they please. I see them every day when I am flying over. They certainly +are fine-looking hens. I don't think I've ever seen fatter ones. Some of +them are so fat they can hardly run." + +As Reddy Fox listened, a look of eagerness crept into his eyes, and his +mouth began to water. He just couldn't help it. "Where did you say those +hens are?" he asked, trying to speak carelessly. + +"I didn't say," replied Blacky, turning his head aside to hide a grin. +"It is a long way from here, Reddy, so I don't believe you would really +be interested." + +"That all depends," replied Reddy. "I would go a long way if it were +worth while. I don't suppose you noticed if there were any dogs about +where those hens are?" + +Blacky pretended not to hear this. "I've often thought," said he, "of +you and Mrs. Reddy as I have looked down at those fat hens. It is too +bad that they are so far away." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +REDDY FOX DREAMS OF CHICKENS + + It's a poor watch-dog who sleeps with both eyes closed. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Reddy Fox watched Blacky the Crow grow smaller and smaller until he was +just a black speck in the distance. Finally he disappeared. Reddy looked +very thoughtful. He looked that way because he _was_ thoughtful. In +fact, Reddy was doing a lot of hard thinking. He was thinking about +those chickens Blacky had told him of. The more he thought of them, the +hungrier he grew. You see, Reddy had been having rather a hard time to +get enough to eat. + +"Yes, Sir," said Reddy to himself, "I would go a long, long distance to +get a good plump hen. I wish I knew just where that farm is that that +black rascal talked about. I wonder if he has gone that way now. If I +were sure that he has, I would make a little journey in that direction +myself. But I'm not sure. That black rascal flies all over the country. +That farm may lie in the direction he has gone now, and it may be in +quite the opposite direction. Somehow I've got to find out in just which +direction it is." + +Reddy yawned, for he had been out all night, and he was sleepy. He +decided that the best thing he could do would be to get a good rest. One +must always be fit if one is to get on in this life. The harder one must +work, the more fit one should keep, and a proper amount of sleep is one +of the most necessary things in keeping fit. So Reddy curled up to +sleep. + +Hardly had his eyes closed when he began to dream. You see, he had been +thinking so hard about those fat hens, and he was so hungry for one of +them, that right away he began to dream of fat hens. It was a beautiful +dream. At least, it was a beautiful dream to Reddy. Fat hens were all +about him. They were so fat that they could hardly walk. Not only were +they fat, but they seemed to think that their one object in life was to +fill the stomachs of hungry foxes, for they just stood about waiting to +be caught. + +Never in all his life had Reddy Fox known anything so wonderful as was +that dream. There were no dogs to worry him. There were no hunters with +dreadful guns. All he had to do was to reach out and help himself to as +many fat hens as he wanted. He ate and ate and ate, all in his dream, +you know, and when he could eat no more he started for home. When he +started for home the fat hens that were left started along with him. He +led a procession of fat hens straight over to his home in the Old +Pasture. + +Just imagine how Reddy felt when at last he awoke and there was not so +much as a feather from a fat hen anywhere about, while his stomach +fairly ached with emptiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +REDDY TRIES TO AROUSE BLACKY'S PITY + + Trust a Fox only as far as you can see him, and lock the + chickens up before you do that. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +All the next night, as Reddy Fox hunted and hunted for something to eat, +he kept thinking of that dream of fat hens, and he kept wondering how he +could get Blacky the Crow to tell him just where that farm with fat hens +was. Blacky on his part had spent a whole day wondering how he could +induce Reddy Fox to make that long journey over to where Bowser the +Hound was a prisoner of kindness. Blacky was smart enough to know that +if he seemed too anxious for Reddy to make that long journey, Reddy +would at once suspect something. He knew well enough that if Reddy had +any idea that Bowser the Hound was over there, nothing would tempt him +to make the trip. + +Early the next morning, just as on the morning before, Blacky stopped +over by Reddy's house. This time Reddy was already home. Actually he was +waiting for Blacky, though he wouldn't have had Blacky know it for the +world. As soon as he saw Blacky coming, he lay down on his doorstep and +pretended not to see Blacky at all. + +"Good morning, Reddy," said Blacky, as he alighted in the top of a +little tree close by. + +Reddy raised his head as if it were all he could do to lift it. "Good +morning, Blacky," said he in a feeble voice. + +Blacky looked at him sharply. "What's the matter, Reddy?" he demanded. +"You seem to be feeling badly." + +Reddy sighed. It was a long, doleful sigh. "I am feeling badly, Blacky," +said he. "I never felt worse in my life. The truth is I--I--I--" Reddy +paused. + +"You what?" demanded Blacky, looking at Reddy more sharply than ever. + +"I am starving," said Reddy very feebly. "I certainly shall starve to +death unless I can find some way of getting at least one good meal soon. +You have no idea, Blacky, how dreadful it is to be hungry all the time." +Again Reddy sighed, and followed this with a second sigh and then a +third sigh. + +Blacky looked behind him so that Reddy might not see the twinkle in his +eyes. For Blacky understood perfectly what Reddy was trying to do. Reddy +wasn't fooling him a bit. When he looked back at Reddy he was very +grave. He was doing his best to look very sympathetic. + +"I'm right sorry to hear this, Reddy," said he. "I certainly am. I've +been hungry myself more than once. It seems a pity that you should be +starving here when over on that farm I told you about yesterday are fat +hens to be had for the taking. If you were not so weak, I would be +tempted to show you where they are." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +BLACKY THE CROW IS ALL PITY + + People who think that they are fooling others very often + discover that they have been fooling themselves. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +To have seen and heard Blacky the Crow as he talked to Reddy Fox, you +would have thought that there was nothing under the sun in his heart or +mind but pity. "Yes, Sir," said he, "I certainly would be tempted to +show you where those fat hens are if you were not too weak. I just can't +bear to see an old friend starve. It is too bad that those fat hens are +so far away. I feel sure that one of them would make you quite yourself +again." + +"Don't--don't talk about them," said Reddy feebly. "If I could have just +one fat hen that is all I would ask. Are they so very far from here?" + +Blacky nodded his head vigorously. "Yes," said he, "they are a long way +from here. They are such a long way that I'm afraid you are too weak to +make the journey. If you were quite yourself you could do it nicely, but +for one in your condition it is, I fear, altogether too long a journey." + +"It wouldn't do any harm to try it, perhaps," suggested Reddy, in a +hesitating way. "It is no worse to starve to death in one place than +another, and I never was one to give up without trying. If you don't +mind showing me the way, Brother Blacky, I would at least like to try to +reach that place where the fat hens are. Of course I cannot keep up with +you. In fact, I couldn't if I were feeling well and strong. Perhaps you +can tell me just how to find that place, and then I needn't bother you +at all." + +Blacky pretended to be lost in thought while Reddy watched him +anxiously. Finally Blacky spoke. "It certainly makes my heart ache to +see you in such a condition, Brother Reddy," said he. "I tell you what +I'll do. You know Crows are famous for flying in a straight line when we +want to get to any place in particular. I will fly straight towards that +farm where the fat hens are. You follow along as best you can. In your +feeble condition it will take you a long time to get anywhere near +there. This will give me time to go hunt for my own dinner, and then I +will come back until I meet you. After that, I will show you the way. +Now I will start along and you follow." + +Reddy got to his feet as if it were hard work. Then Blacky spread his +wings and started off, cawing encouragement. All the time inside he was +laughing to think that Reddy Fox should think he had fooled him. "He +forgot to ask again if there is a dog there," chuckled Blacky to +himself. + +As for Reddy, no sooner was Blacky well on his way than he started off +at his swiftest pace. There was nothing weak or feeble in the way Reddy +ran then. He was in a hurry to get to those fat hens. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +BLACKY IS MUCH PLEASED WITH HIMSELF + + You cannot tell from a single feather what a bird looks like, + nor from a lone hair how big a dog is. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Straight away towards the farm where Bowser the Hound was flew Blacky +the Crow. Every few minutes he would caw encouragement to Reddy Fox, +who, as you know, was following, but who of course could not travel as +fast as did Blacky. In between times Blacky would chuckle to himself. He +was mightily pleased with himself, was Blacky. + +In the first place his plan was working beautifully. You know what he +was after was to get Reddy Fox over to that farm where Bowser was. He +hoped that if Reddy should catch one of those fat hens, the farmer would +put Bowser on Reddy's trail. He knew that Reddy would probably return +straight home, and Bowser, following Reddy's trail, would thus find his +way back home to Farmer Brown's. Of course, it all depended on whether +Reddy would catch one of those fat hens and whether Bowser would be +allowed to hunt him. Blacky had a plan for making sure that if Reddy did +get one of those hens the folks in the farmhouse would know it. + +But what tickled Blacky most the knowledge that Reddy Fox thought he was +fooling Blacky. You remember that Reddy had pretended to be very weak. +Blacky knew that Reddy was nothing of the kind. At the very first +opportunity Blacky stopped in the top of a tall tree as if to rest. His +real reason for stopping was to have a chance to look back. You see, +while he was flying he couldn't look behind him. + +Presently, just as he expected, he saw in the distance a little red +speck, and that little red speck was moving very fast indeed. There was +nothing weak or feeble in the way that red speck was coming across the +snow-covered fields. Blacky chuckled hoarsely. + +Nearer and nearer came the red speck, and of course the nearer it came +the larger it grew. Presently it stopped moving fast. It began to move +slowly and stop every once in a while, as if to rest. Blacky laughed +right out. He knew then that Reddy Fox had discovered him sitting in the +top of that tall tree and was once more pretending. It was a sort of a +game, a game that Blacky thoroughly enjoyed. + +As soon as he knew that Reddy had discovered him, he once more spread +his black wings and started on. The same thing happened over again. In +fact, Blacky did not fly far this time before once more waiting. It was +great fun to see Reddy suddenly pretend that he was too weak to run. It +was such fun that Blacky quite forgot that he had had no breakfast. + +Yes, Blacky the Crow was very much pleased with himself. It looked very +much as if he would succeed in helping Bowser the Hound. This pleased +him. But it pleased him still more to know that he was fooling clever +Reddy Fox while Reddy thought he was the one who was doing the fooling. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +BLACKY WAITS FOR REDDY + + Be wise, my friends, and do not fail + To trust a dog who wags his tail. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Just before reaching the farm where the fat hens and Bowser the Hound +were, Blacky waited for Reddy Fox to catch up. It was some time before +Reddy appeared, for he wasn't traveling as fast now as when he had +started out. You see, that farm really was a very long way from the Old +Pasture where Reddy lives and Reddy had run very hard, because, you +know, he was so anxious to get one of those fat hens. + +As soon as Blacky saw him he hid in the thick branches of a tall +pine-tree. Reddy didn't see him. In fact, Blacky had been so far ahead +that Reddy had lost sight of him some time before. Out of the bushes +trotted Reddy. His tongue was hanging out just a little, and he was +panting. Blacky was just about to speak when Reddy stopped. He stood as +still as if he had suddenly been frozen stiff. His sharp black ears were +cocked forward, and his head was turned just a little to one side. Reddy +was listening. He was listening for the voice of Blacky. You see, he +thought Blacky was still far ahead of him. + +For several minutes Reddy stood listening with all his might, and +Blacky's sharp eyes twinkled as he looked down, watching Reddy. Suddenly +Reddy sat down. There was an expression on his sharp face which Blacky +understood perfectly. It was quite plain that Reddy was becoming +suspicious. He had begun to suspect that he had been tricked by Blacky +and led so far away from home for nothing. + +Down inside Blacky chuckled. It was a noiseless chuckle, for Blacky did +not intend to give himself away until he had to. But when at last he saw +that Reddy was beginning to get uneasy, Blacky spoke. "You seem to be +feeling better, Brother Reddy," said he. "You must excuse me for +keeping you waiting, but I did not suppose that any one so weak and +feeble as you appeared to be early this morning could possibly get here +so soon." + +At the sound of Blacky's voice, Reddy was so startled that he jumped +quite as if he had sat down on a prickly briar. He was sharp enough to +know that it was no longer of any use to pretend. "I'm feeling better," +said he. "The thought of those fat hens has quite restored my strength. +Did you say that they are near here?" + +"I didn't say, but--" Blacky didn't finish. He didn't need to. From the +other side of a little swamp in front of them a rooster crowed. That +was answer enough! Reddy's yellow eyes gleamed. In an instant he was on +his feet, the picture of alertness. + +"Are you satisfied that I told the truth?" asked Blacky. Reddy nodded. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +REDDY WATCHES THE FAT HENS + + Sooner or later the crookedest trail will straighten. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +At the sound of that rooster's voice on the other side of the little +swamp, Reddy became a changed Fox. Could you have been sitting where you +could have seen him, as did Blacky the Crow, you never, never would have +guessed that Reddy had run a very long distance and was tired. He did +not even glance up at Blacky. He did not even say thank you to Blacky +for having shown him the way. He looked neither to the right nor to the +left, but with eyes fixed eagerly ahead, began to steal forward swiftly. + +Making no sound, for Reddy can step very lightly when he chooses to, he +trotted quickly through the little swamp until he drew near the other +side. Then he crouched close to the snow-covered ground and began to +steal from bush to bush until he reached the trunk of a fallen tree on +the very edge of the swamp. To this he crawled on his stomach and peeped +around the end of it. + +Everything was as Blacky the Crow had said. Not far away was a farmyard, +and walking about in it was a big rooster, lording it over a large +flock of fat hens. They were not shut in by a wire fence as were Farmer +Brown's hens. Some were taking a sun bath just in front of the barn +door. Others were scattered about, picking up bits of food which had +been thrown out for them. A few were scratching in some straw in the +cowyard. In the barn a horse stamped. From the farmhouse sounded the +voice of a woman singing. Once the door of the farmhouse opened, and an +appetizing odor floated out to tickle the nose of Reddy. + +Reddy looked sharply for signs of a dog. Not one could he see. If there +was a dog, he must be either in the barn or in the house. It was quite +clear to Reddy that no Fox had bothered this flock of fat hens. He was +sorely tempted to rush out and grab one of them at once, but he didn't. +He was far too clever to do anything like that until he was absolutely +sure that it would be safe. + +So Reddy lay flat behind the old tree trunk, with just his nose and his +eyes showing around the end of it, and studied what would be best to do. +He was sure that he could get one of those fat hens, but he wanted more. +Early that morning Reddy would have been quite contented with one, but +now that he was sure that he could get one, he wanted more. If he were +too bold and frightened those hens while catching one, they would make +such a racket that they would be sure to bring some one from the +farmhouse. The thing to do was to be patient until he could catch one +without alarming the others. Then perhaps he would be able to catch +another. Reddy decided to be patient and wait. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE + + Patience is a virtue + In a cause that's right. + In a cause that isn't, + It's a cause for fright. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +One of the first things that the little people of the Green Forest and +the Green Meadows who hunt other little people learn is patience. +Sometimes it takes a long time to learn this, but it is a necessary +lesson. Reddy Fox had learned it. Reddy knew that often even his +cleverness would not succeed without patience. When he was young he had +lost many a good meal through impatience. + +Reddy could not remember when he had been more hungry than he was now. +Lying there behind the fallen tree, watching the fat hens walking about +unsuspectingly just a little way from him, it seemed to him that he +simply must rush out and catch one of them. But Reddy was smart enough +to know that if he did this there would at once be such a screaming and +squawking that some one would be sure to rush out from the farmhouse to +find out what was going on. If he were discovered, there would be small +chance for him to get another fat hen. Reddy is keen enough to make the +most of an opportunity. He knew that if he could get one of these hens +without frightening the others, he would have a chance to get another. +He might have a chance to get several in this way. + +So, though he was so eager and so hungry, he made himself keep perfectly +still, while he studied out a plan. By and by he stole ever so carefully +around back of the barn to the cowyard. Some of those fat hens were +scratching in the straw of the cowyard. Just outside the cowyard was a +pile of old boards. Reddy crawled behind this pile of old boards and +then crouched and settled himself to be patient. He knew that sooner or +later one of those fat hens would be likely to come out of the cowyard. +In this way he might be able to catch one without the others knowing a +thing about it. + +Blacky the Crow sat in the top of a tall tree where he could see all +that was going on. Blacky was as impatient as Reddy was patient. "Why +doesn't the red rascal rush in and get one of those fat hens?" muttered +Blacky. "What is the matter with him, anyway? I wonder if he is afraid. +He could catch one of them without half trying, and there he lies as if +he expected them to run right into his mouth. I don't want to sit here +all day. Yet I can't do a thing until he catches one of those hens." + +So Reddy waited patiently and Blacky waited impatiently, and the fat +hens wandered about unsuspectingly, and for a long, long time nothing +happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THINGS HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE + + The cleverest Fox is almost certain to visit the chicken yard + once too often. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun, high in the blue, blue sky, looked down on +as peaceful a scene as ever was. In the cowyard back of the barn of this +particular farm stood several cows contentedly chewing their cuds as +they took their daily airing. Half a dozen fat hens were walking about +among them and scratching in the straw. Out in the farmyard in front of +the barn were many more fat hens. Behind a pile of old boards just +outside the cowyard was a spot of red. In the top of a tall tree not far +distant was a spot of black. The smoke from the chimney of the farmhouse +floated skyward in a lazy way. Looking down on the Great World, jolly, +round, bright Mr. Sun saw no more peaceful scene anywhere. + +By and by a fat hen walked over to the bars of the cowyard and hopped up +on the lower bar. There she sat for some time. Then, making up her mind +that she would see what was outside, she hopped down and walked over to +the pile of old boards. Right then things happened all at once. That red +spot behind the pile of old boards suddenly came to life. There was a +quick spring, and that fat hen was seized by the neck so suddenly that +she didn't have time to make a sound. At the same instant the black spot +in the top of the tall tree came to life, and Blacky the Crow flew over +to the roof of the barn, screaming at the top of his lungs. Now those +who know Blacky well, know when he is screaming "Fox! Fox! Fox!" +although it sounds as if he were saying "Caw! Caw! Caw!" + +In a moment the door of the farmhouse flew open, and a man stepped out +with a dog at his heels. The man looked up at Blacky, and he knew by +Blacky's actions that something was going on back of the barn. Right +away he guessed that there must be a Fox there, and calling the dog to +follow, he ran around to see what was happening. Of course Reddy heard +him coming, and with a little snarl of anger at Blacky the Crow, he +seized the fat hen by the neck, threw her body over his shoulder, and +started for the near-by swamp as fast as his legs could take him. + +Just as Reddy reached the edge of the swamp, he heard the roar of a +great voice behind him. He knew that voice. It was the voice of Bowser +the Hound. It could be no one else but Bowser who was behind him, for +there was no other voice quite like his. Dismay awoke in Reddy's heart. +He knew that Bowser was wise to the tricks of Foxes, and that he would +have to use all his cunning to get rid of Bowser. To do it he would have +to drop that fat hen he had come so far to get. Do you wonder that Reddy +was dismayed? + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +REDDY HIDES THE FAT HEN + + Dishonesty will run away + Where Honesty will boldly stay. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Reddy Fox was in a fix! He certainly was in a fix! Here he was with the +fat hen which he had come such a long, long way to get, and no chance to +eat it, for Bowser the Hound was on his trail. Ordinarily Reddy Fox can +run faster than can Bowser, but it is one thing to run with nothing to +carry, and another thing altogether to with a burden as heavy as a fat +hen. Reddy's wits were working quite as fast as his legs. + +"I can't carry this fat hen far," thought Reddy, "for Bowser will surely +catch me. I don't want to drop it, because I have come such a long way +to get it, and goodness knows when I will be able to catch another. The +thing for me to do is to hide it where I can come back and get it after +I get rid of that pesky dog. Goodness, what a noise he makes!" + +As he ran, Reddy watched sharply this way and that way for a place to +hide the fat hen. He knew he must find a place soon, because already +that fat hen was growing very heavy. Presently he spied the hollow stump +of a tree. He didn't know it was hollow when he first saw it, but from +its looks he thought it might be. The top of it was only about two feet +above the ground. Reddy stopped and stood up on his hind legs so as to +see if the top of that stump was hollow. It was. With a quick look this +way and that way to make sure he wasn't seen, he tossed the fat hen over +into the hollow and then, with a sigh of relief, darted away. + +With the weight of that fat hen off his shoulders, and the worry about +it off his mind, Reddy could give all his attention to getting rid of +Bowser the Hound. He had no intention of running any farther than he +must. In the first place he had traveled so far that he did not feel +like running. In the second place he wanted to get back to that hollow +stump and the fat hen just as soon as possible. + +It wasn't long before Reddy realized that it was not going to be so easy +to fool Bowser the Hound. Bowser was too wise to be fooled by common +tricks such as breaking the trail by jumping far to one side after +running back on his own tracks a little way; or by running along a +fallen tree and jumping from the end of it as far as he could. Of course +he tried these tricks, but each time Bowser simply made a big circle +with his nose to the ground and picked up Reddy's new trail. + +Reddy didn't know that country about there at all, and little by little +he began to realize how much this meant. At home he knew every foot of +the ground for a long distance in every direction. This made all the +difference in the world, because he knew just how to play all kinds of +tricks. But here it was different. It seemed to him that all he could do +was to run and run. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS A GLAD SURPRISE + + The sweetest sound in the world is the voice of one you love. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Farmer Brown's boy had an errand which took him far from home. He +harnessed the horse to a sleigh and started off right after dinner. Now +it happened that his errand took him in the direction of the farm where +Bowser the Hound had been taken such good care of, and where Reddy Fox +had that very day caught the fat hen. Farmer Brown's boy was not +thinking of Bowser. You see, he had already visited most of the farms in +that direction in his search for Bowser and had found no trace of him. + +It was a beautiful day to be sleighing, and Farmer Brown's boy was +whistling merrily, for there is nothing he enjoys more than a sleigh +ride. He had almost reached the place he had started for when 'way off +across the fields to his right he heard a dog. Now Farmer Brown's boy +enjoys listening to the sound of a Hound chasing a Fox. There is +something about it which stirs the blood. He stopped whistling and +stopped the horse in order that he might listen better. + +At first that sound was very, very faint, but as Farmer Brown's boy +listened, it grew louder and clearer. Suddenly Farmer Brown's boy leaped +up excitedly. "That's Bowser!" he cried. "As sure as I live that's good +old Bowser! I would know that voice among a million!" + +He leaped from the sleigh and tied the horse. Then he climbed over the +fence and began to run across the snow-covered fields. He could tell +from the sound in what direction Bowser was running. He could tell from +the appearance of the country about where Reddy Fox would be likely to +lead Bowser, and he ran for a place which he felt sure Reddy would be +likely to pass. + +Louder and louder sounded the great voice of Bowser, and faster and +faster ran Farmer Brown's boy to reach that place before Bowser should +pass. The louder that great voice sounded, the more absolutely certain +Farmer Brown's boy became that it was the voice of Bowser, and a great +joy filled his heart. At last he reached an old road. He felt certain +that Reddy would follow that road. So he hid behind an old stone wall on +the edge of it. + +He did not have long to wait. A red form appeared around a turn in the +old road, running swiftly. Then it stopped and stood perfectly still. Of +course it was Reddy Fox. He was listening to make sure just how far +behind him Bowser was. He listened for only a moment and then started on +as swiftly as before. Right down the road past Farmer Brown's boy Reddy +ran, and never once suspected he was being watched. + +A few minutes later another form appeared around the turn in the road. +It was Bowser! Yes, Sir, it was Bowser! With a glad cry Farmer Brown's +boy jumped over the stone wall and waited. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +REDDY GOES BACK FOR HIS FAT HEN + + Joy will make a puppy of an old dog. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +When Bowser the Hound is following the trail of Reddy Fox, it takes a +great deal to make him leave that trail. His love of the hunt is so +great that, as a rule, nothing short of losing the trail will make him +stop. He will follow it until he cannot follow it any longer. + +But for once Bowser actually forgot that he was following Reddy Fox. +Yes, Sir, he did. As he came down that old road with his nose in +Reddy's tracks, he was so intent on what he was doing that he didn't see +Farmer Brown's boy waiting for him. He didn't see him until he almost +ran into him. + +For just a second Bowser stared in utter surprise. Then with a little +yelp of pure joy he leaped up and did his best to lick his master's +face. Could you have seen Bowser, you might have thought that he was +just a foolish young puppy, he cut up such wild antics to express his +joy. He yelped and whined and barked. He nearly knocked Farmer Brown's +boy down by leaping up on him. He raced around in circles. When at last +he was still long enough, Farmer Brown's boy just threw his arms around +him and hugged him. He hugged him so hard he made Bowser squeal. Then +two of the happiest folks in all the Great World started back across the +snow-covered fields to the sleigh. + +Bowser and Farmer Brown's boy were not the only ones who rejoiced. Reddy +Fox had been badly worried. Although he had tried every trick he could +think of, he had not been able to get rid of Bowser, and he had just +about made up his mind that there was nothing for it but to start back +to the Old Pasture which was so far away. That would mean giving up the +fat hen which he had hidden in the hollow stump. + +Of course, Reddy knew the instant that Bowser began to yelp and bark +that something had happened. What it was he couldn't imagine. He sat +down to wait and listen. Then he heard the voice of Farmer Brown's boy. +Reddy knew that voice and he grinned, for he felt sure that Bowser would +give up the hunt. He grinned because now he would have a chance to go +back for that fat hen. At the same time that grin was not wholly a happy +grin, because Reddy knew that now Bowser would return to his home. + +Presently Reddy very carefully crept back to a place where he could see +what was going on. He watched Farmer Brown's boy start back for the +road and the sleigh, with Bowser jumping up on him and racing around him +like a foolish young puppy. He waited only long enough to make sure that +Bowser would not come back; then he turned and trotted swiftly along his +own back trail towards that hollow stump into which he had tossed that +fat hen. Reddy's thoughts were very pleasant thoughts, for they were all +of the fine dinner of which he now felt sure. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +A VANISHED DINNER + + This fact you'll find where'er you go + Is true of Fox or Dog or Man: + Dishonesty has never paid, + And, what is more, it never can. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Very pleasant were the thoughts of Reddy Fox as he trotted back to the +swamp where was the hollow stump in which he had hidden the fat hen he +had stolen. Yes, Sir, very pleasant were the thoughts of Reddy Fox. He +felt sure that no dinner he had ever eaten had tasted anywhere near as +good as would the dinner he was about to enjoy. + +In the first place his stomach had not been really filled for a long +time. Food had been scarce, and while Reddy had always obtained enough +to keep from starving, it was a long time since he had had a really good +meal. He had, you remember, traveled a very long distance to catch that +fat hen, and it had been many hours since he had had a bite of anything. +There is nothing like a good appetite to make things taste good. Reddy +certainly had the appetite to make that fat hen the finest dinner a Fox +ever ate. + +So, with pleasant thoughts of the feast to come, Reddy trotted along +swiftly. Presently he reached the little swamp in which was the hollow +stump. As he drew near it, he moved very carefully. You see, he was not +quite sure that all was safe. He knew that the farmer from whom he had +stolen that fat hen had seen him run away with it, and he feared that +that farmer might be hiding somewhere about with a terrible gun. So +Reddy used his eyes and his ears and his nose as only he can use them. +All seemed safe. It was as still in that little swamp as if no living +creature had ever visited it. Stopping every few steps to look, listen, +and sniff, Reddy approached that hollow stump. + +Quite certain in his own mind that there was no danger, Reddy lightly +leaped up on the old stump and peeped into the hollow in the top. Then +he blinked his eyes very fast indeed. If ever there has been a surprised +Fox in all the Great World that one was Reddy. There was no fat hen in +that hollow! Reddy couldn't believe it. He _wouldn't_ believe it. That +fat hen just _had_ to be there. He blinked his eyes some more and looked +again. All he saw in that hollow stump was a feather. The fat hen had +vanished. All Reddy's dreams of a good dinner vanished too. A great rage +took their place. Somebody had _stolen_ his fat hen! + +Reddy looked about him hurriedly and anxiously. There wasn't a sign of +anybody about, or that anybody had been there. Reddy's anger began to +give place to wonder and then to something very like fear. How could +anybody have taken that fat hen and left no trace? And how could a fat +hen with a broken neck disappear of its own accord? It gave Reddy a +creepy feeling. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +WHERE WAS REDDY'S DINNER? + + Often it is better to look for a new trail than to waste time + hunting for an old one. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Reddy Fox is used to all sorts of queer happenings. Yes, Sir, he is used +to all sorts of queer happenings, and as a rule Reddy is seldom puzzled +for long. You see he is such a clever fellow himself that any one clever +enough to fool him for long must be very clever indeed. This time, +however, all the cleverness of his sharp wits did him no good. The fat +hen he had hidden in a hollow stump had disappeared without leaving +trace. + +Reddy's first thought was that probably the farmer from whom he had +stolen the fat hen had found it and taken it away. At once he began to +use that wonderful nose of his searching for the scent of that farmer. +Very carefully he sniffed all about the top of that old stump and inside +the hollow. There wasn't the faintest scent of anybody there. Then he +jumped down, and with his nose to the ground, ran all around the stump, +sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. The only thing he discovered was the scent +of Bowser the Hound, and he knew that Bowser had not taken that fat hen, +because, as you remember, Bowser had kept right on chasing him. + +Reddy began to feel afraid of that old stump. People usually are afraid +of mysterious things, and it certainly was very mysterious that a fat +hen with a broken neck should disappear without leaving any trace at +all. Reddy sat down at a little distance and did a lot of hard thinking. +He looked every which way even up in the tree tops, but all his looking +was in vain. It was so mysterious that if he hadn't known positively +that he was awake he would have thought it was all a dream. + +But Reddy is something of a philosopher. That fat hen was gone, and +there was no use in wasting time puzzling over it. There were other fat +hens where that one came from, and he would just have to catch another. + +So Reddy trotted through the swamp till he came to the edge of it. There +his keen nose found the scent of the farmer. It didn't take him two +minutes to discover that the farmer had followed Bowser the Hound to the +edge of the swamp and then gone back. Eagerly Reddy looked over to the +farmyard for those fat hens. They, too, had disappeared. Not one was to +be seen. But there was no mystery about the disappearance of these other +fat hens. He heard the muffled crow of the big rooster. It came from the +henhouse. All those fat hens had been shut up. It was perfectly plain +to Reddy that the farmer suspected Reddy might return, and he didn't +intend to lose another fat hen. With a little yelp of disappointment, +Reddy turned his back on the farm and trotted off into the woods. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +WHAT BLACKY THE CROW SAW + + The greatest puzzle is simple enough when you know the answer. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +There were just two people to whom the disappearance of that fat hen +Reddy Fox had hidden in the hollow stump was not a mystery. One of them +was Blacky the Crow. When the farmer and Bowser the Hound had rushed out +at the sound of Blacky's excited cawing, Blacky had flown to the top of +a tall tree from which he could see all that went on. Everything had +happened just as Blacky had hoped it would. Bowser had taken the trail +of Reddy Fox, and Blacky felt sure that sooner or later Reddy would lead +him back home to Farmer Brown's. + +Blacky was doubly pleased with himself. He was pleased to think that he +had found a way of getting Bowser back home, and he was quite as much +pleased because he had been smart enough to outwit Reddy Fox. He didn't +wish Reddy any harm, and he felt sure that no harm would come to him. He +didn't even wish him to lose that dinner Reddy had come so far to get, +but he didn't care if Reddy did lose it, if only his plan worked out as +he hoped it would. + +"I wonder what he'll do with that fat hen," muttered Blacky, as he +watched Reddy race away with it thrown over his shoulders. "He can't +carry that hen far and keep out of the way of Bowser. I think I'll +follow and see what he does with it." + +So Blacky followed, and his eyes twinkled when he saw Reddy hide the fat +hen in the hollow stump. He knew that no matter how far Bowser might +chase Reddy, Reddy would come back for that fat hen, and he was rather +glad to think that Reddy would have that good dinner after all. + +"No one will ever think to look in that hollow stump," thought Blacky, +"and I certainly will not tell any one. Reddy has earned that dinner. +Now I think I'll go get something to eat myself." + +At that very instant Blacky's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a gray form +with broad wings, and in a perfect panic of fear Blacky began to fly as +fast as he knew how for a thick spruce-tree not far away. He plunged in +among the branches and hid in the thickest part he could find. With +little shivers of fear running all over him, he peeked out and watched +that big gray form. On broad wings it sailed over to that hollow stump. +Two long legs with great curving claws reached down in, and a moment +later that fat hen was disappearing over the tree tops. Blacky sighed +with relief. + +[Illustration: ON BROAD WINGS IT SAILED OVER TO THAT HOLLOW STUMP. _Page +199._] + +"It's a lucky thing for me that robber, Mr. Goshawk, saw Reddy hide that +fat hen," muttered Blacky. "If he hadn't, he might have caught me, for I +didn't see him at all." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL + + When things go wrong, just patient be + Until the end you plainly see. + For often things that seem all bad + Will end by making all hands glad. + + _Bowser the Hound._ + + +Reddy Fox, trotting homeward, had nothing but bitterness in his heart, +and nothing at all in his stomach. He was tired and hungry and bitterly +disappointed. He was in a country with which he was not familiar, and so +he did not know where to hunt, and he felt that he just must get +something to eat. Do what he would, he couldn't help thinking about +that fat hen he had hidden and which had so mysteriously disappeared. +The more he thought of it, the worse he felt. It was bad enough to be +hungry and have no idea where the next meal was coming from, but it was +many times worse to have had that meal and then lose it. To Reddy, +everything was all wrong. + +Now on his way home Ready had to pass several farms. Hunger made him +bold, and at each farm he stole softly as near as possible to the +farmyard, hoping that he might find more fat hens unguarded. Now it +happened that that afternoon a farmer at one of these farms was +preparing some chickens to be taken to market early the next morning. He +was picking these chickens in a shed attached to the barn. He had +several all picked when he was called to the house on an errand. + +It happened that just after he had disappeared Reddy Fox came stealing +around from behind the barn, and at once he smelled those chickens. Just +imagine how Reddy felt when he peeped in that shed and saw those fine +chickens just waiting for him. Two minutes later Reddy was racing back +to the woods with one of them. This time there was no dog behind him. +And in a little hollow Reddy ate the finest dinner he ever had had. You +see there were no feathers to bother him on that chicken, for it had +been picked. When the last bit had disappeared, Reddy once more started +for home, and this time he was happy, for his stomach was full. + +Long before Reddy got back to the Old Pasture Farmer Brown's boy and +Bowser the Hound had reached home. Such a fuss as everybody did make +over Bowser. It seemed as if each one at Farmer Brown's was trying to +spoil Bowser. As for Bowser himself, he was the happiest dog in all the +Great World. + +Blacky the Crow got back to the Green Forest near Farmer Brown's just +before jolly, round Mr. Sun went to bed. Blacky had found plenty to eat +and he had seen no more of fierce Mr. Goshawk. As Blacky settled himself +on his roost he heard from the direction of Farmer Brown's house a great +voice. It was the voice of Bowser the Hound trying to express his joy in +being home. Blacky chuckled contentedly. He, too, was happy, for it +always makes one happy to have one's plans succeed. + +"All's well that end's well," he chuckled, and closed his eyes sleepily. + +Blacky never could have fooled old Granny Fox as he did Reddy. She is +far too smart to be fooled even by so clever a scamp as Blacky. She is +so smart that she deserves a book all her own, and so the next volume in +this series will be Old Granny Fox. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bowser The Hound, by Thornton W. 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